


Here (In Your Arms)

by Some_Cookie_Crumbz



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: A Kiss Booth AU Kinda?, But still want to offer credit to be safe, F/M, M/M, Only thing from that I used is dating a friend's brother, Other ships to be determined as I decide them, Rating subject to change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-06-24 17:03:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15634953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Some_Cookie_Crumbz/pseuds/Some_Cookie_Crumbz
Summary: Title Inspired by a song from Hellogoodbye of the same name. It's the first year of college for childhood besties Katie "Pidge" Holt and Lance McClain and they're both excited to see how their lives will changes; especially with a bitter "rivalry" instilled between Lance and a newcomer to town, Keith Kogane. But as distance grows between Pidge and Lance with her constant study groups, he finds himself spending time in the Holt residence without her. Well, until her older brother, Matthew, decides to invite Lance to keep him company while recouping from an accident. And what could go wrong there, right?





	1. Chapter 1

He shimmied the door handle and poked his head in, looking around curiously. “Ah, Lance! You’re a little early! We haven’t finished dinner just yet,” The warm and familiar voice of Samuel Holt called from the couch in the front room. He smiled and headed over, the older man standing up, and the two embraced quickly.

 “Aw, it’s all good Papa Sam. I figured it’d give me a chance to catch up with Pidge and see how she’s feeling about starting college tomorrow,” He mused lightly. He then glanced over his shoulder, making sure there was no sign of his best friend, before looking back at the older man. “How’s Matt holding up? Pidge didn’t tell me a whole lot, but I know he’s in the hospital.”

“Is that Lance? Hello, darling!” Colleen Holt called from the kitchen.

Lance chuckled and leaned over to call out towards the kitchen, “Hey, Mama Collie! Dinner smells great so far!”

“Thank you! The lasagna should be ready in about ten minutes!”

“That sounds amazing! Yours is almost as good as my Mama’s!” He called with a small laugh before looking back over at Sam. Lance’s eyes were shimmering like clear water in hope. “I take it he’s doing pretty well, then? Everyone seems in decent spirits.”

“Well, the accident was pretty bad, but the police have at least confirmed that they have a suspect in custody, so there’ll be charges brought up soon enough. He and the other’s that got hurt will need to spend some more time in the hospital and Matt’s going to need… Extra recuperation time and physical therapy, but he’ll be able to make a full recovery. We’ve already got his room here at home all put together so he’ll have a place to relax and feel comfortable, at least,” He said, keeping his own voice low. He stole a glance towards the kitchen and then looked back over at the younger man. “My bigger concern is that Matt himself seems so… Drained. It seems like the accident has stolen him a bit of his sense of self and purpose. I’m hoping it’s more just the gloom of being cooped up in the hospital and he’ll be a bit more chipper once he gets home, though, but it’s hard to say.”

The younger nodded, brow knitting in concern. Pidge and her older brother, Matt, had always been extremely close. Lance had only seen Matt a handful of times in passing during the holidays and between summer activities, but he knew that the two siblings were thick as thieves. Matt was one of Pidge’s biggest supporters in her desire to be an engineering student, despite her grandparents and school counselors insisting she go for a field considered more “female positive”. Lance himself, as a younger sibling with three older siblings, knew how important it was to know that your siblings had your back just as much as you had theirs. “Let me see if I can’t go convince the small bird from her perch before food is ready,” He offered.

Sam offered him a grateful smile, the little curls at the corners of his lips visible. “It’d be greatly appreciated. I’d better go help Colleen set the table,” He mused, giving the young man one more pat on the shoulder before he disappeared around the corner to the little offset dining area. Lance watched him go before taking a breath and steeling himself to make his way upstairs. He remembered how frazzled and mortified she’d been when, upon stepping out of the movies with the rest of their group that Saturday night, she’d found several voicemails from her parents’ in absolute hysterics.

He could only hope that she would be in slightly higher spirits as he knocked on the door lightly.

Pidge was settled at her desk when he walked in, her headphones perched up high on her head. She paused in her work on her computer, picked up her phone and started to type away at it.

 **Me: (6:14 P.M.)**  
Hey, it me. Let me know if you need anything, okay?

 **Me: (6:15 P.M.)  
** I mean, whatever. Like, if you want snacks, I can ask Lance to take me somewhere to get some once he gets here. Or if you need to talk about everything, then I’m here for you. Just, anything you need, okay?

 **Me: (6:17 P.M.)  
** Especially since I know a place I can get you big bars of banana Laffy Taffy. I know how much you like your banana Laffy Taffy.

 **Me: (6:18 P.M.)**  
So, yeah. Hit me up if you want that sweet, sweet hook up.

She set her phone aside, deciding that she needed to hold off on blowing his phone up. The last thing he’d want was for her to keep texting her, especially if he was busy or something. She just couldn’t help herself from messaging him, though. She would have to make sure to ask Mom about when he’d be discharged, too, she realized, because she didn’t think it’d be happening too soon, but maybe he’d be able to come home sooner than she thought. She jumped when, after a full five minutes of radio silence, her phone vibrated and flashed. She scrambled to pick it up and check what he’d said.

 **Dweeb King Supreme: (6:24 P.M.)**  
Thnx Pidge.

She let her shoulders slump at the unenthusiastic response and set her phone aside, opting against sending anything else. She knew that things weren’t exactly the best right now, but she’d been hoping that maybe he’d be a bit more excited about her proposition than that. Oh well, she figured she’d talk with Lance about him running her to get the treats and pop in at him in the hospital for a short visit. She was sure that he’d be okay with it, and she’d offer to get him something in exchange for his troubles.

She jumped in surprise when her headphones were yanked off of her head and a playful laugh greeted her. “You weren’t kidding about these things blocking out the noise. I called your name, like, three times and got no response,” Lance said playfully, offering her headphones back to her.

“Oh, sorry,” She said, pausing her music and setting her headphones off to the side with her cell phone, “I was actually kinda lost in thought.”

Lance’s smile left as he plopped down on the foot of her bed, dropping his overnight bag on the ground beside it. “Oh, shit. Did… Did you get some bad news from your parents?” He asked cautiously.

“Oh, no. I just… I texted Matt to try and get him to cheer up a little bit. Told him I could bring him some snacks and I was here to talk if he wanted and he just… He didn’t respond like he normally does. It’s just really hard, you know,” She said quietly, trying to keep the warble in her voice under control. She turned her computer chair around fully to face him better. “I want to help him and support him but I don’t know how. I’m scared that he won’t talk to anyone about what’s wrong with him if he won’t talk to me, and that something bad will happen.”

Lance hummed quietly and nodded. “Well, all you can really do is keep the channel of communication open. I’m sure that if he needs your support that he’ll reach out to you, though. I mean, Matt’s a smart guy and you two have always been close; I doubt that he won’t talk to you when he needs to. Plus, you’re one of the best people at keeping secrets,” Lance pointed out.

She flashed him a small grin, not as bright as her usual ones but with just enough of her usual spark to give Lance from reassurance. “You mean like that time you kissed Ralph Yorke under the jungle gym in fifth grade?”

“Ugh, that guy had the worst breath ever! His mom sent him to school with _leftover meatloaf_! Left. Over. Meat. Loaf! Who even _does_ that?” He laughed, before leaning over and starting to rummage through his bag.

“Mrs. Yorke, evidently. And you thought he was cute until you got that lip-lock with him,” Pidge sneered teasingly.

“We all have regrets, Pidge, and the fact you hold that one close to your chest on my behalf is heartwarming,” He mused, sitting upright and pressing four DVD cases against his chest, tilting his head back with his eyes shut in a dramatic flair.

She chuckled and looked over at the DVDs in his grasp. “So, what did you bring for us tonight?” She asked, pushing herself out of her chair to start gathering her things for the next morning. She’d learned that it was better to pack up ahead of time if she had some place to be in the morning when he stayed over because they’d stay up late doing anything from gaming to discuss various what-if scenarios.

“I brought something we’ve been wanting to riff on for a while,” He mused, shifting to reveal what he had up his sleeve.

Pidge gasped, her amber eyes sparking in amusement before they narrowed in mischievous delight. “But, wait, won’t Hunk and Allura get upset if we watch the Twilight films without them? They’ve been dying to get together for a riff session on this for weeks,” She said.

“What they don’t know won’t hurt them,” He shrugged, setting the films on the little entertainment center by Pidge’s bed. He then pushed up and nodded towards the door. “Now, I believe that I was promised some taste lasagna. Why don’t we go get in on that?”

She smiled and nodded, following him out into the hallway. He waited for her and they descended the stairs together. “Hey, Lance, can I ask a favor?”

“Hm… Depends. If it involves one of my kidneys and a tub full of ice, I’m gonna have to say no,” He teased lightly.

The old joke got a full laugh out of her. Years ago, in middle school, she had made a teasing comment to one of their peers about the joys of the black market. This specific peer being someone that had been talking smack about Lance without realizing that Pidge was right there listening. This then led into rumor spreading that she had family ties to the Italian mafia and that anyone that crossed her or her friends would end up getting their organs harvested. “Not this time, no,” She teased back.

“I’m all ears, then,”

“After school tomorrow, would you mind running me down to that hole-in-the-wall hardware store to pick up some Laffy Taffy for Matt, and then take me to the hospital? They’re the only place in town that sells individual things of Laffy Taffy, if you can believed that, and I really want to get him some. He may not have been very excited about the idea, but maybe if I bring them on my own he’ll perk up some. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to, but I at least wanted to visit with Matt for a bit before we hang out with the others,” She explained.

Lance smiled and tossed an arm over her shoulder, pulling her in for an awkward hug as they reached the bottom stair. “Sure thing. It’s that weird little place? Cloak and Dagger, right?” He asked.

She smiled and nodded, leaning into him and letting her arm come up around him in return. “Yeah. Thanks, Lance,” She said, feeling significantly better than she had in days.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

A low groan rumbled from her throat as she shifted, cracking her eye to look at the screen of her phone. She jolted upright and let out a shrill shriek. “ _Holy shit_ , Lance! _Wake the Hell up_!” She shouted, throwing back her blankets and clamoring off the bed.

The heel of her foot collided harshly with his side, earning a pained shout from him. " _How_ are you like this so early in the morning?" He whined, curling on his side with his arms wrapped around his aching middle. She barely cast him a glance over her shoulder as she tossed her laptop and all its connectors into her bag.

"You _dingus_! We're gonna be _late_!" She shouted back, scrambling over to her dresser and starting to rummage through the top drawer. Feeling benevolent, she tossed his overnight bag at him via hooking it on her foot and tossing it over to him. It landed at the edge of the air mattress they’d prepared for him that night before they’d started their movie fest the night before. She disappeared briefly into her closet while tossing on a bra and picking out a shirt.

When she stumbled back out, Lance was swearing as he toppled over in his attempt at yanking on his jeans. “ _You said_ you set an alarm!” Lance called at her, pushing himself upright and rummaging through his bag for his shirt.

“ _I forgot_!” She huffed, pulling on a pair of shorts and stumbling to her dresser again. Socks! She needed to get socks with how much running they’d be doing to get to the car and then walking around campus!

“How did you _forget_? Today is basically _everything_ for us!” He squawked back, swapping out his night shirt for one of his regular baseball tees.

Rather than answer him with words, Pidge let out a small groan and flopped over into her computer desk to yank on her socks. A quick glance under her desk revealed her usual sneakers and she eagerly tossed them on. “You cool with leaving your stuff here until later?”

“Uh, duh! We’re supposed to meet back up here with the others tonight anyway, remember?” He scoffed, yanking on his own shoes and scrambling up on his feet.

She nodded and the two darted out, grabbing their book bags from where they’d left them by her bedroom door the night before. “Keys?” Pidge asked as the darted down the stairs.

“Got’em. I’ve got my wallet; you got yours?”

“In the front pocket,” She agreed, grabbing the door and fumbling to open it. The door knob had a tendency of getting stuck, but she’d just been too lazy to go to the store and pick up a new one.

A head poked around the corner, a worried frown on their lips. “Kids, what’s the rush?”

“Hi, Mom,” Pidge said without looking up, letting out a triumphant laugh when she finally twisted the knob open.

“Hi, Mama Holt. Sorry we can’t chat, but we’re running a late,” Lance said, offering a small salute.

“Hold on just one second,” She huffed lightly, turning and disappearing. They heard the brief sound of a cabinet door being open and then she returned, offering them each a glossy silver package. “I don’t really like you eating these, but you should at least have a little something on your stomachs to get through your orientation. And let me know how it goes, okay?” She asked.

Pidge blinked then smiled brightly at her. “Thanks, Mom. And I will, promise,” She said before she and Lance scampered out to where his car was parked in the front yard.

“Okay, so we have the orientation… What are they covering with that, again?” Lance asked as he slipped into the driver’s seat of his Taurus. The vehicle came to life in a clanking sputter, graceless and obnoxious, and he leaned across the seat to push the passenger side door open for her. The Taurus was an old beast, passed down to Lance from his older brother Marco, who inherited it from their older sister Veronica, who had actually been gifted it by the eldest of the McClain batch, Luis. And even then, Luis had gotten it from their mother when she’d been able to get a newer car for herself. The vehicle was damn near twenty years old, with the only parts of it that were still from when it was a new car being the steering wheel. The thing struggled to start when it got too hot outside, a chunk of the upper part of the steering wheel had rotted and broken off, and the passenger side exterior door handle had been yet another casualty of war.

Less because the car wasn’t cared for because, as Pidge could attest, all the McClain’s had done their best to keep it going. It was just… Well, incredibly old. Especially considering it went by car years. The poor thing was probably tired and looking to cash in it’s 401K plan. Have more time to spend with the grandkids, maybe enjoy some bingo and shuffle board, she figured.

“Well, the first portion of it is going to be explaining scholarship and FAFSA guidelines, rules and regulations,” She mused.

Lance groaned as he reached up and carefully adjusted the rearview mirror. It barely budged, due to the super glue he’d applied after it fell off for the fifth time that month, but it moved just enough that he could better check behind him to pull out. “Ugh, seriously? Why can’t they just send us an email or have us review the conditions on our student accounts?”

“We have to do that, too, but this is just a way to make sure that freshmen understand exactly what they’re signing up for. Some of the wording on the webpage can be confusing,” She said with a small shrug, opening her own foil package grinning down at the strawberry Pop-Tart inside. She then set her opened pouch down, picked up Lance’s, and opened it for him.

“Is it blueberry?” He asked, glancing away from the road briefly to look at her.

“You only eat blueberry, so what do you think? Besides, considering I had to explain how your scholarship worked in order for you to understand it, you aren’t really in a position to complain,” She snorted, pulling one of the frosted pastries out and offering it to him. She fished one of her own out and took a bite with her other hand.

He leaned over and snatched it up in his mouth, nibbling carefully so that he could keep the whole thing clenched between his lips. When he paused at the next red light, he set it on his thigh and looked over at her again. “Hey, it’s not my fault those stupid things use ridiculous words. Like, half of those words weren’t even things on the SATs; why would they assume that anyone would just know them off the top of their head?”

“Which is exactly why this orientation is mandatory for freshmen,” She said evenly.

He hummed lightly, taking another quick bite of his treat. “What else do you have on the agenda after orientation?”

“I’m just gonna go check out my designated lab space and start determining where I’m gonna keep everything. I don’t have any classes today so I figured I’d just go wander around campus, maybe settle in the library or café while I wait on the rest of you,” She said with a shrug, taking another bite from her own.

Lance took another bite of his own and quickly set the treat on his thigh as the light changed. “Café would probably be easier to find you in so that we can all chat. Then again, it might be loud, so there’s that,”

“I brought my headphones with me, so it’ll be easy for me to block out any excess noise while I’m alone,” She said with a small laugh.

He scoffed in amusement. “Of course you would,” He said before picking up his snack and tossing it in his mouth.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Lance looked around then smirked as his eyes scanned the room, spotting Jenny Shaybon settled in the corner of the room, turned to talk to one of her friends beside her. He’d chatted with her a bit over the earlier weeks of summer at some parties, but had yet to get her number and put his efforts in wooing her to the max. None of the seats around her, however, were open. Not like that removed all his hope, though.

All he had to do was ask the guy next to her to swap seats with him. He approached and tapped the other’s shoulder lightly, startling him from setting down his bright red backpack. “Hey, buddy, mind if I ask a little favor?” Lance mused lightly keeping his voice quiet.

The other stared at him, blinking slowly, before scowling and grunting in assertion that he’d heard him. He didn’t recognize the guy, which was strange. While the city of Arus wasn’t a small one, it also wasn’t exactly a sprawling metropolis, either. Even if he didn’t know names, he knew which of the handful of high schools in the city the other students came from. The idea that someone who choose to come to Arus to go to college was strange, sure, but not necessarily unheard of.

Though this meant the guy probably hadn’t heard the stories of how great Lance was, so he’d have to amp his charm up to about a solid nine.

“I was wondering if you’d be willing to trade spots with me, take this seat here, instead,” He suggested, setting one hand on the empty seat beside Red Backpack.

“And you can’t sit there yourself, because…?” Red trailed flatly, shifting to pull the chair for the coveted seat out further.

“Well, see, that girl and I are friends from high school. I haven’t had a lot of time to talk to her, though, and I think it’d be nice to sit next to someone I know I can ask for help if I need to,” Lance bluffed. Well, it was only a half-bluff, as far as he was concerned.

Red leaned over and gave Jenny’s shoulder a small nudge. “This guy your friend?” He asked while shifting a bit so she could better see the tanned male.

Heat rose up along Lance’s face, his neck prickling in embarrassment. Jenny blinked a bit in surprise at being addressed, looking from Red to Lance and slowly cocking her head. “Um… I _think_ I know him? You’re… _Luther_?” She asked slowly.

He sputtered indignantly. “W-What? No! I’m Lance! You know, Lance the Blast? We… We hung out for like three hours at Tamara’s party back in June!” He insisted.

Jenny looked confused for a moment before her eyes widened. “Oh, yeah! You were the guy that really liked to talk,” She said calmly with a nod.

“W-What? You make it sound like all I did was talk! We both talked! It was a conversation!” He sputtered.

“You did most of the talking, though. I mean, you seemed like an okay guy, I’m not saying it in a bad way,” She said, offering him a smile that just screamed pity. Lance could feel himself tensing up at her scrutiny.

Red seemed to see this as his chance to swoop back in. “Want me to swap seats with him?” He asked, indicating Lance with a nod of his head.

She shrugged. “I don’t really care,” She said before turning her attention back to the conversation she’d been in the middle of prior.

The other man turned to look at Lance, his violet eyes completely composed and ambivalent, as if he hadn’t just completely sunk Lance’s chances with his dream girl. “I’m keeping my seat. Sorry, dude,” He said before moving his backpack and sliding into the chair.

Lance growled and turned, readying himself to find another seat as far away from the site of his horrific defeat, but the classroom was already filled up. The only seat left was the one he still had his hand resting on. With a defeated huff, he pulled the chair out and slumped into it, fishing his things out and settling in. He made sure to put as much space between himself and Red as possible, glaring at the other from the corner of his eye.

He set his book and notebook off to the side, then fished out his phone. He verified that it was on silent, then sent a group text out.

 **Me: (9:38 A.M.)**  
Wtf is wrong w sum ppl??

 **Pidge: (9:39 A.M.)  
** Lol! Wat u do?

 **Allura: (9:39 A.M.)**  
Oh dear. What happened?

 **Me (9:41 A.M.)**  
Y u gotta blame me??? I didn’t do anything!

 **Hunk: (9:43 A.M.)  
** Calm down, guys. What happened, Lance?

Lance prepared to send back a text about the situation when the professor cleared there throat, picking up a large stack of papers. “Okay, everybody. We aren’t going to be doing a whole lot today but I do need you all to pay attention. Put your phones and other devices – including laptops and tablets – away for now,” He said calmly, pausing at the first row and beginning to hand out the syllabus packets.

 **Me: (9:45 A.M.)**  
Ttyl; class starting.

He set his phone aside and cast one last glare at the dark haired male beside him. Whether the guy knew it or not, he’d picked a fight with the wrong person. Lance tried his best to be a nice guy more times than not, really he did, but when someone crossed him?

He had a long memory and had a tendency to hold grudges.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group meets up to discuss after school plans and Lance's embarrassing strike out with the lovely Jenny Shaybon, Pidge makes a deal with the mulletted devil, and some shenanigans go down at the hospital.

Pidge had only needed about an hour and a half to finish getting her student lab situated to the specifications she liked. Once she was done, she went and picked out a table in the student café and settled in, tinkering around on her computer as she waited for the others. She played a few games but ended up just staring at her screen after about an hour, her mind racing back to how Matt was doing in the hospital. He’d been barely conscious when she’d gone to see him just three days before. She’d tried talking to him about anything she could think of, just to try and get him to talk.

Instead, he’d just stare at the wall or his comforter and occasionally make small noises of acknowledgement.

She felt so lost and unsure of what to do to help her brother. She just wanted to see him happy, to see him smile again. She remembered how devastated he’d been when their parents told him that he was going to need to take at least one full semester off from school. He’d worked so hard to get into the Garrison and qualify for his scholarships. Dad had promised that, since he had connections at the Garrison, he’d see if he could get something figured out so that Matt wouldn’t be booted or have his scholarships terminated. “These are extraordinary circumstances, so I don’t think it’ll be much of a challenge to accomplish,” He had said reassuringly.

It was clear, however, that the news had killed whatever wind had been left in Matt’s sails when they’d gone in to first visit him.

She leaned back in her seat then perked up in surprise when she saw Allura heading her way. She lifted one hand and waved, tugging her headphones off and setting them aside. “Hey. How was your first class?” She asked as the other settled into the seat beside her.

“Oh, my goodness,” Allura breathed, shrugging her backpack off and setting her purse on the table, “it was crazy. I mean, it was really insightful and has definitely solidified my passion to go into psychology.”

“But?” Pidge trailed, a small smile turning up on her lips.

A bashful grin overtook the other woman’s face, fiddling lightly with the end of her long ponytail. “Well, it’s certainly going to be challenging classes, but it’s exhilarating at the same time. I mean, there are so many things to learn and I know it won’t be easy, but… I am so incredibly excited but also nervous for it all at the same time.”

“You’re going to do amazing, you know,” She said happily, reaching out and giving her friend’s shoulder a small squeeze. The other paused in her fidgeting and let her hands settle on top of her purse. “You’re one of the kindest, warmest, thoughtful, practical people I know. You’re going to be an amazing psychologist and you’re going to be able to help so many people.”

Allura offered a small smile and looked away. “Thank you, Pidge. Your words are really encouraging for me,” She said softly, She then cleared her throat and looked at her expectantly. “But now I want to talk about you. I know you didn’t have any classes today, but how was your student lab?”

“Oh, it’s great! I was able to get everything set up just like how I wanted and I still have space. I was thinking that maybe, over the weekend, I’d build a secondary computer to keep in the lab only,” She hummed.

“What would you do about swapping the files and data you need between the computers? Just use a flash drive or something?” She asked curiously.

Pidge shook her head. “Nah, I can link the computers together pretty easily so that I can access their respective hard drives from each other. That way, I can still pull up what I need from one computer if I need to double-check something while I’m not with them,” She said happily. She then tapped her chin in thought. “Though I wonder if I should do a full system duplication with the secondary computer, or just put the bare minimum of what I need on there. Oh, and maybe I should make an account for Hunk to use, too, so that he won’t have to jump all over the place for what he needs.”

“Aw, you’re so sweet, Pidge! Looking out for your next door neighbor like that!” Hunk said playfully, ruffling her hair as he slid past her.

“Hunk!” Both girls laughed in unison.

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out,” He laughed playfully, sliding into the seat beside Allura. He set his backpack into the last empty seat at the table. “And if you’re serious about giving me a profile on your computer, I’d be crazy grateful. It’s looking like there’s going to be a lot of assignments for my calculus class.”

She beamed and nodded. “I figured it’d be good. Besides, we’re right next door to each other so it’s an easy transition for you, if there’s things you need to double check,” She mused lightly.

“You two got placed next to each other? That’s fantastic!” Allura said happily.

“Yeah, I was hoping we’d at least be close by but this worked out pretty much perfect for placement,” Hunk agreed.

Pidge opened her mouth to say something but instead jumped as something freezing and a bit cold was shoved against the crook of her neck. She let out a loud squeal in shock while a familiar laugh echoed out from behind her. “Oh, man! I didn’t think I’d actually manage to get you that bad!” Lance cackled as he shifted to set the icy cold energy drink he’d brought for Pidge on the table beside her computer. He shifted around them to reveal three more drinks tucked in his other arm, offering them to Hunk and Allura as well. “Hunk, I brought you one of those smoothie-juice drinks you like. They didn’t have that mango one you like, so hopefully strawberry banana is okay. And Allura, I hope a chilled caramel Frappuccino is good.”

“Thanks, man!” Hunk laughed, reaching over and moving his backpack aside so that the other could sit.

“Thank you so much,” Allura mused, twisting the cap and taking a quick sip from her own drink. Once Lance was settled in and had uncapped the soda he got himself, she looked at him expectantly. “So what happened that caused you to send out that text earlier?”

“Oh, my Lanta! Let me tell you all about this miserable walking, talking 80’s stereotype!” He proclaimed, slamming one hand down on the table. Pidge snorted a bit as she tapped the top of her can then popped the tab open to take a swig. “So, I get into my writing class this morning, and _who_ do I see in the corner? _Jenny Shaybon_!”

“Oh my God, it was Jenny Shaybon,” Pidge said teasingly. Allura and Hunk both released muffled chuckles at her words but Lance pinned them all with a look.

“This isn’t a laughing matter, you guys! Let me finish, please!” He harrumped lightly. Pidge rolled her eyes a bit but took another silent sip and indicated with a nod of her head that he continue. She knew how Lance tended to lean towards the theatrical when regaling his stories, even when discussing the most trivial of circumstances. “So, anyway, I decide I’ll slide in there beside her, right? Take the chance to give her some of the ole’ Lancey Lance charm, right? But no! There’s a seat beside her that some dude I’ve _never even met_ has taken! And this guy looked like the villain in one of those awful Lifetime specials they do on teen dating! You know the kind I’m talking about! Stupid mullet hairstyle that was dated back when mullets were considered _acceptable_ in fashion, black leather jacket, this whole I’m-Apathetic-Because-I-Think-I’ll-Get-Girls-That-Way expression… Ugh, he probably has a notebook full of poems about how ‘tortured’ he is, too.”

“Okay, weird punk-rock guy is sitting next to Jenny, got it. What happened next?” Hunk asked.

“So, the spot next to this weirdo is open, right? I ask him very nicely if he can swap spots with me. I let him know that Jenny and I know each other, so he doesn’t think that I’m just some colossal creep looking to flirt with a cute girl. And then do you know what he does?”

“Says no?” Allura asked, taking another sip from her drink.

“He turns to Jenny and outright asks her if she knows me! And then, obviously because he put her on the spot, she starts trying to play it off! Like, she even went so far as to pretend to not know my name because of how uncomfortable she was!”

“Are you sure that’s right? I mean, Jenny was never good at remembering anyone’s name if they weren’t in her immediately circle,” Pidge pointed out. She slowly smirked and turned to look at the other two people in their group. “Right, _Alicia and Hubert_?”

Hunk and Allura both groaned. “Okay, at least Alicia _kinda_ sounds like Allura. Like, if you stretch it? And when you think about how Allura is a very uncommon name? I can _kinda_ get it. But _how_ do you get _Hubert_ out of _Hunk_? There’s… There’s just _no reason_ for that!” Hunk rambled, gesturing wildly about with his hands.

Lance puffed out his cheeks a bit. “Okay, so maybe she isn’t always the best with names, but Jenny’s a _great girl_! And then, because of _this dude_ , any chance I have with her has just been thrown _right out the window_! Who even does that? Just… Just outright asks a girl he doesn’t even know if she knows this other guy?”

“Probably the same kind of person that asks someone to trade seats with them _just_ so he can be in an _optimal flirting post_?” Pidge suggested, slowly raising an eyebrow at him. “Look, Lance, you’re my best friend, and I love you, but I think you’re blowing this out of proportion. So what if you don’t get to seat next to Jenny Shaybon? If she can’t even be bothered to remember your name, she’s not worth your time or attention. Besides, there’s plenty of other really cute girls and guys in the school for you to work your charm on. Ones that’ll be kind enough to remember your name and forget the awful pick-up lines you use on them.”

Lance slumped a bit in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest, but the corners of his mouth twitched like he wanted to smile anyway. “I just want you to know that my pick-up lines are amazing. You just don’t have a high enough charisma skill to appreciate them,” He said, his tone playful.

“And you play too many dating sims. We all have our disgusting, embarrassing crosses to bear,” She hummed back, closing out of the game on her computer.

“Watch yourself, there, Pidgeon; remember that I’m the one with the car and keys around here,” He mused, fishing out his keys and dangling them in the air between them.

“You wouldn’t ditch or deny me a ride somewhere. You’re too nice,” She retorted.

“That’s fair,” He said with a small shrug. He paused to look at his phone to check the time. “If we can get back to coordinating for tonight, my only other class today is in two hours, and then I’m done. Hunk, Allura, you guys have some later afternoon classes, yeah?” He asked.

“Yes, I have two more classes today, so I should be done around 5:30,” Allura mused.

“And I’m free today until 3:30, and then that class lets out closer to 5,” Hunk said.

“Mkay, so after I get out of my class, Pidge and I can go hit that hardware store, then go see Matt in the hospital, and still have time to get the basement set up before you guys head over,” Lance said thoughtfully, tapping his fingers along the sides of his soda bottle.

“Oh, that’s right. How are things going with him?” Allura asked, casting a worried glance over at Pidge.

She perked up and offered a small, nervous smile. “I’m not exactly sure. Mom and Dad don’t really like talking about the specifics of the accident with me. I think they’re trying to avoid me stressing about it, but I’d rather know than be stressed out about not knowing. That stresses me out more; especially since I want to know what’s going on so that I can help him. Matt himself isn’t big about talking about anything. He’s seemed really… out of it, I guess. I mean, thankfully enough he’ll be able to make a fine recovery over time, but he doesn’t seem quite himself.”

 “That’s good. I had been meaning to ask what exactly, the extent of his injuries were. It was a hit-and-run, right?” She asked worriedly.

Pidge hummed and nodded a bit. “Yeah, something like that. Again, I’m a little shaky on the exact details, since my parents aren’t keeping me in the loop. I only know what I’ve seen and overheard when I’m visiting him,” She said.

“It sounds like he’s got a bit of psychological damage from the accident as well. Hopefully he’ll get treatment for that, as well,” Allura said worriedly.

The other chugged down another mouthful of her energy drink, turning to look at the intricate pattern coating the aluminum can. “He’s hanging in there, and I’m know he’s willing to reach out when he needs it. I mean, he’s a Holt, so he’ll be fine with a little bit more time,” She said, though she came off as just a bit defensive.

Picking up on her discomfort, Lance decided to step in. “Maybe we can all plan a little something for him once he gets discharged from the hospital. We can discuss it later tonight. How were your first classes, though, you two?” He asked.

Pidge flashed him a small, grateful smile as Hunk began excitedly telling them about the adorable Corgi his calculus instructor kept in the classroom. He nodded his head a bit before turning his full attention back to the other two members of their group.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Cloak and Dagger was a tiny hardware store hidden in a midst of small suburbs between the college and Pidge’s house. They’d found the place one night while they’d been driving around, listening to music and talking about their upcoming freshmen term. It had been closed when they went by together. Lance pulled up to one of the spots right in front of the store. “You mind if I wait out here?” He asked curiously.

“Nah, that’s fine. I should be back in less than five,” Pidge said, rummaging through her backpack for her wallet. Once she found it, she scampered out and headed inside. Deciding that she didn’t want to just grab the Laffy Taffy, she skirted through the aisles to find the doorknobs. She shifted through until she found one that looked similar to the one they had on their front door, plucked it off the peg, then headed up towards the small counter up by the front. She’d come be a few weeks prior, looking to get a small tool kit to keep her in student lab, and found the place to be surprisingly pleasant.

The store wasn’t as grand as some corporate-owned places she’d been too, like Home Depot of Lowe’s, but there was something to be said about the quaint size of it. Because it was a bit smaller than the bigger-known places, it was actually much easier to find what you needed. There were plenty of options at reasonable prices. There aisles were also easier to navigate, as they only kept like things with other like things, and everything was correctly labelled. Additionally, up by the checkout, she’d seen a large corkboard with all kinds of advertisements for community events, such as a yard sales or charity events. While she wasn’t exactly big on those kinds of things, it was still nifty that they wanted to offer more information to their shoppers that were. It was while she was there looking for her tool kit that she’d seen a large box of Banana Laffy Taffy by the front checkout, positioned on a shelf with a variety of other sweet treats.

 “Well, you need to ask Regris before you go putting up fliers like that,” The young girl behind the counter said, barely glancing up from the task of re-sorting a tool kit that had been returned. There was a young man beside the large corkboard, a red backpack tossed over one shoulder, reaching for a thumbtack to post up a sheet in his hand.

“He said it would probably be fine,” The young man said, pausing in putting up his post to flash the girl a bland look.

“You know,” Said another young man as he walked over, wearing one of the dark grey employee aprons, “last time I checked, ‘probably’ doesn’t mean the same thing as ‘definitely’.”

“It really depends on how, exactly, you choose to look at it. Especially when consider the whole mathematical probability of receiving a positive response,” Pidge chimed in as she set the doorknob on the counter. She then paused to grab the whole box of Laffy Taffy, pleased to see that only one was missing from inside, as well as a Twix bar and a bag of Reese’s Pieces. She figured that the Twix would be a decent payment for Lance’s kindness in swinging her by. All three were staring at her strangely as she set the box of taffy beside the doorknob. “Besides, I’m assuming that you know this Regris guy pretty well, so then you can also reasonably assume there will be an additional percentage of preferential treatment to factor in as well. Which then can also help boost your probability receiving a positive response.”

All three stared at her before the one with the red backpack started to smirk. “So then, since he said it would most likely be fine, and I know that I’m one of his favorite employees, so what would you say the probability of him being fine with it is?” He asked.

“I’d say higher than 70 percent,” She mused, popping open her wallet as the girl behind the counter started scanning her items. She pulled out her card without looking up. “And, if you state that you thought he had already approved you putting the notice up, you can probably bump the percentage closer to 80.”

“Those are good enough odds for me,” He said with a small laugh, returning to his task of putting the flier up.

“I still don’t get it, Keith,” The girl running the register said.

“Nihaar has a point. Wouldn’t it be better to out that posting up in, like, a mechanic’s shop? Or even just a listing on Craiglist?” The young man asked, leaning against the far end of the counter, nearest Pidge. He’d crossed his arms and leaned forward on them.

“If I post it in a mechanic’s shop they’ll just try to convince me to let them work on it. And I know they’ll try to charge me an arm and a leg for both parts and labor, when I should be able to get the parts just fine myself. I just need someone with decent mechanical skills to help me with the work,” Keith scoffed, pushing the second thumbtack in and stepping back to look at it, making sure it was even.

“Oh, I might be able to help you out. What do you need, exactly?” Pidge asked curiously.

“Total’s going to be 42.86, please,” Nihaar cut in.

“I doubt you can help him. It’s pretty complex stuff for a girl,” The other man said from his position still lounging on the counter.

Pidge and Nihaar both turned to pin him with a look. “Says the dumbass that can’t tell the different between a claw hammer and a ball-peen hammer? Yeah, I still remember that, Adwru,” Nihaar said with a smug grin, picking up the tool kit she’d been fixing up and setting it beside his arms. “By the way, go put this back on the shelf. All the pieces are there and back in their proper places.”

Adwru groaned in response, throwing his head back and opening his mouth to drag the effect out longer. “You brought this on yourself, dude,” Keith said flatly. Without tilting his head upright again, Adwru settled one hand on the handle of the kit, dragged it across the counter, and then headed off, letting out a displeased whine with each step as he did.

“Is he always like that?” Pidge asked with a small laugh as she slid her card.

“Nah, he normally doesn’t say stupid shit like that because he knows better. Especially since one of his mom’s actually is a mechanic,” Keith said as he approached. He hoisted himself up on the counter, sitting in the space in front of the second register that was currently not in use. He peered over and raised an eyebrow at the bag Nihaar handed her. “That’s a very strange combination.”

She shrugged. “This is the only place that has Banana Laffy Taffy in the full size bars and I know someone who could make use of these,” She said calmly.

“And the doorknob is just to stick out less in here, right?” He teased.

“Pssh. If I was just looking to cover my ass so I could buy the candy, I would have just grabbed a hammer or measuring tape. Would have been less expensive than the doorknob,” She said, pocketing her wallet again. He let out a small amused hum at that, nodding in understanding. “But what is it you need, exactly? Like I said, I might be able to help. And if not me, I might know someone who can.”

“I need a second opinion in regards to this old bike I want to restore,” He said.

“Just a secondary diagnositic?”

“Something like that. I just need someone else to tell me the extent of damage, what repairs it needs, and then maybe help me a bit with it,”

“You paying for these services?”

“Depends on the price tag for the services,”

“At least one meal per restoration session,”

“That- Wait, _seriously_? You just want food in exchange for _manual labor_?” He asked, pausing to slowly blink and stare at her in disbelief.

She nodded. “Yeah, I’m an easy one to please. Oh, but it can’t be, like, cheap, gross-ass McDonald’s or anything. I want it to be _at least_ Wendy’s quality food I’m being paid with; something that’s _still_ reprehensible to put in my mouth but hasn’t been sitting in a hot pan since two days ago,” She said explained.

“You’re being real with me? Like, seriously? You could get discounts here using my employee discount, or get paid in a decent chunk of change, or you could ask me to, like, personally chauffer you around the city or something… And all you want is some drive-thru meals?” He asked, still seeming to be in a state of shock.

“Look, I already said what I want out of this. You in or out?” She asked, quirking an eyebrow and offering her hand to him.

The young man looked from her hand to Nihaar, who merely shrugged before tossing a Funyun into the air and catching it with her tongue. “It’s a trap! Don’t do it, dude!” Adwru called from the other end of the store.

“Nobody cares what you think, Adwru!” Nihaar called back after swallowing the snack in her mouth.

“Rude!” He called back.

“Deal,” Keith said, taking Pidge’s hand and giving it a hardy shake. He hopped off the counter and followed her towards the doors, readjusting his bag on his shoulder. “When would be a good time for you to get started?”

“I work on the weekends, but on Saturday and Sunday I’m typically off around 5. Other than that, I have some afternoon classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, an evening class on Monday’s, but I’ll be free pretty much all of Wednesday. If you don’t mind picking me up from the college or bringing the bike to my lab space on campus, I can work on it there,” She suggested.

“I have two classes on Wednesday, but I’m done with them before 1pm. I’ll bring the bike with me next week in the bed of my truck and we can figure out where to meet up from there,” He said with a small nod. “You must be some kind of technology student then, yeah?”

“Engineering, to be specific,” She mused as they stepped outside.

“Oh, that’s pretty cool. Must be nice that they give you a lab to work in on campus,” He said.

“It has its perks. Even if I didn’t have a lab to use, I’d just convert the garage or basement into one, though,” She said with a small shrug. A small part of her felt rather delighted that he hadn’t started pestering her about her major. Even the upperclassman that had been touring the lab area had given her a bit of flack, insinuating that she’d end up changing majors once the courses got too hard. “So should we swap cell numbers or something?” She prompted.

“Oh, right,” He said, shifting his bag on his shoulder so he could reach the small pouch on the front. She cocked her head curiously as he pulled out a pen and offered it to her. “My phone actually got busted last week, but I haven’t had the time to get a new one yet. We have a landline at my house, so if you give me your number, I can call you from that until I get my new cell.”

“How did you break your phone to the point it isn’t remotely salvageable?” She asked with a laugh, though she did take the pen from him.

He smirked a bit. “Well, you see, it’s a lo-!”

He was cut off by the loud blare of a car horn just a few feet away. Pidge jumped and wheeled around, staring in shock as Lance sat there, a displeased scowl on his lips, both hands smashed against the center of his steering wheel. She made a cut-throat gesture with one hand at him and he removed both hands, his eyes narrowing into a glare. She rolled her eyes as she clicked the pen so that the tip popped out. “Ugh, sorry about that. My friend must be getting bored,” She sighed.

“It’s fine,” He said, presenting his arm to her. She looked up at him and quirked an eyebrow. “Your friend is already losing his mind in there; he’ll probably get even more annoyed if I take the time to get out a piece of scrap paper.”

“True point,” She said with a small laugh, shifting a bit closer so that she could write her number along his wrist.

The minute the pen touched his skin, the car horn announced Lance’s displeasure yet again.

“You can wait an extra five seconds, you damn Drama Queen!” She shouted, briefly glancing up and to glare her friend down as she did. He reached to turn down the crank on the driver’s side window but she turned her attention back to what she was doing. “There. I’ll be busy tonight so I probably won’t answer, but you can try any time after, like, 5 tomorrow, I should answer. Assuming nothing comes up.” She said.

He nodded and took the pen back when she offered. “Sweet. Any requests for the first meal I bring?” He asked.

“So long as it isn’t McDonald’s, surprise me,” She said with a small wave before heading over to the passenger side of Lance’s car.

“Talk to you later, then!” He called, offering a quick salute before turning and heading off across the parking lot.

She had barely settled into the passenger side seat when Lance wheeled around to look at her, set face in a disappointed pout. “I am _so upset_ with you right now, young lady,” He huffed.

“Didn’t realize you were _my Mom_ now,” She snorted.

“I am when it comes to trash like _that_! How could you talk to _that guy_?”

“Oh, my God, Lance, I know you have _a thing_ about guys in leather jackets but could you _please_ just-!”

“It’s not the jacket! _That’s the guy_!”

“ _What guy_ , dude? You gotta be more specific!”

“ _The guy in my writing class_! The douche that ruined my chances with Jenny!” He sputtered, gesturing at the retreating figure in the distance. She followed his gaze and tilted her head a bit. Ah, he did have the long, dark hair that Lance had mentioned. “Ugh! What were you wasting your breath on with him, anyway?”

She rolled her eyes and rummaged through the bag, producing the Twix bar she’d gotten him. “He’s looking for someone to help him with some repair work. I figured it’d be a good chance to test my skills,” She said, tossing the candy bar at him.

He wrinkled his nose in distaste, picking the treat up from his lap and carefully opening it. “You could just ask to help out at the shop Hunk’s dad runs if you wanted to get practice,” He mumbled before taking a bite out of one. He set the bar on his thigh and shifted his car into reverse, looking around carefully before backing out of the spot.

“Yeah, but it sounds like if I do that, it can only be during the week when Mr. Garrett is actually there. Plus, I’d have to actually be hired on as a part-time employee so I’d have to wait for a background check to come in. This’ll be easier. Plus I get free food out of it,” She mused.

He shook his head. “Still doesn’t seem like a good reason to deal with that mullet-having dick,” He mumbled.

“I’ll tell you what; if the guy really _does_ end up being a total jerk, I’ll intentionally botch up the job. Teach him a lesson about minding his manners,” She said with a small huff, pulling her bag of Reese’s Pieces out.

“Aw, you’re such a good friend, Pidgeon,” He crooned playfully, tossing the rest of his bite of Twix into his mouth as he merged into the turn lane.

“Well, I certainly try. Anyway, when we go up to see Matt, just stay cool, okay?” She said.

He quirked an eyebrow. “Uh… Okay? Any specific reason you’re warning me about this?”

“It’s just… Matt’s kinda been off. I’m really worried. And the injuries he got from this whole thing are… Well, they aren’t awful, but it’s pretty clear he’s self-conscious about it,” She said quietly. She stared out the window, her fingers drumming along the top of her knee. “I think that it’s best to not call attention to it, since it clearly bothers him when it gets brought up. And don’t really ask any questions about what happened, either, since, you know. Ties into the whole self-conscious thing. It’ll most likely just make him shut down even further than he already has.”

Lance stared at her for a moment, brows knit in concern. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean, I know it might be hard, but avoiding the problem isn’t going to make it go away or help Matt cope, really. Avoiding it might actually just make things worse in the long run,” He advised. He’d told her this same thing many times before, in various situations.

“I’m sure. I mean, like I said, Matt’s already kinda shutting down. I’m hoping that having a little sweet treat and acting like everything is the same will help reassure him. Let him know that things will go back to normal over time and that we won’t treat him any different,” She said evenly, her gaze becoming more intent on the scenery flying by them.

Pidge, despite being stubborn and assertive, was someone who crumbled when it came to her own personal problems or situations where her family became involved. She didn’t like being poked or prodded about it; rather, she liked to turn tail and pretend the problem didn’t even exist. And when it came to her family? She tended to lean more towards the same approach for those as well. It had happened only a handful of times where there were troubles in her home that caused such a huge rift in the dynamic, but she tended to bury her head in the sand. For problems like missed points on a test, her tactic was harmless. But in a situation such as this?

He worried that it would come back to bite her later.

Getting to the hospital and finding a spot was surprisingly easy. Lance knew the place pretty well between injuries from playing sports in high school and the birth of his nieces and nephews, as well as knowing the best places to park. Pidge was eager to head in, bustling through the parking lot so fast he had to jog to keep up with her, and rocking on her heels as they waited for the elevator to creep up to the floor. The hospital itself wasn’t particularly large, just three buildings that were seven floors high up, each one designated for specific, similar fields. Lance wasn’t familiar with the third building, which was specific for long-term treatments, but he knew the labor/ delivery building and the surgery/ recovery buildings, though. It felt strange to exit the elevator on the fifth floor and follow her down the hallway as opposed to being pushed here and there by a member of the staff.

Matt’s room was at the far end of the left corridor, the door cracked open. Pidge still had the kindness to lightly knock as she pushed the door open. “Hope you were looking forward to some company, Dweebo,” She mused, trying to infuse at least a bit of cheer into her voice.

Matt perked up, stretched out on his bed, and looking utterly miserable. “Hey, Pidge. Wish you’d told me you were planning to stop by,” He said, a small note of frustration in his mumbles, using the remote to mute whatever he was watching.

“I’m sorry, I thought that maybe a little surprise would be nice. I’ll be sure to message you before stopping by in the future,” She said, stepping back at the first sign of aggression. It was the polar opposite to what she would normally do in such a situation that it actually made Lance feel a little uncomfortable as he slowly slipped into the room.

He kept a bit of distance as he walked through the room, observing the area itself but also keeping an ear out in case he noticed any more tension starting up between the siblings. It looked like all the other rooms he’d been in before, with the small off-set bathroom, the large whiteboard with a listing of when Matt had been checked on last checked on, who the attending nurse was, and what the specifics of his readings had been. There was the television mounted up on the wall, the channel flipped over to a rerun of Family Feud. Probably not the most riveting of options, but it was probably better than the news or something. “Gee, you’d think they could swing for a slightly better selection of channels for their patients, huh?” He chuckled as he walked further in.

Matt perked up in surprise. “Oh, hey, Lance. Sorry I didn’t see you there,” He said.

Lance shrugged. “Sorry, I was just looking around. I wanted to see if things had changed all that much with the remodel they did but it just seems like some fresh paint and new tiles. They couldn’t even do you the decency of getting you some better channels, either,” He said with a small laugh as he stepped closer.

Matt snorted a little bit. “Well, I’m making do with what I have,” He said lightly.

“If there’s anything you want from the house, I can bring it for you,” Pidge said quickly, her eyes brightening just a bit at the prospect of doing something to help him. “I mean, they have Wi-Fi here, so I’m sure you could hook your laptop up and have that. Or I can bring one of your handhelds, or some books over for you.”

“I’ll think about it,” He said with a small nod.

Pidge settled into the seat beside Matt’s bedside and held up the bag, seeming a bit more confident now that she’d received a bit more of a positive reaction from him. “And hopefully this little surprise will help,” She said, offering it to him.

He quirked an eyebrow as he took it and looked at the label skeptically. “Nuts and bolts might not be able to do much to help me, sis. Though I appreciate the sentiment,” He said, gesturing towards the foot of the bed with a nod of his head.

It was then that Lance noticed that the covers were flat while the other moved as Matt tapped his foot. He felt his throat tighten a bit as his mind caught up on what, exactly, had happened to the other young man.

Pidge’s face flushed and she scoffed. “That isn’t-! Look inside the bag!” She sputtered, clearly a bit hurt by his words.

He looked from her to rummage through the bag. “Oh, great. Laffy Taffy. That’ll be a _huge_ help in my recovery. Obviously _this_ is what I _really_ need to get through this trying time,” He grumbled, sarcasm dripping in his words.

“I was just trying to do something nice for you!” She snapped back, her hands clenched into fists in her lap.

“If you wanted to do something nice for me, you should have just outright asked me,” He scoffed, tossing the bag on his bedside table without a second thought.

“When I try to ask you, you never give me a straight answer! I’m just trying to-!”

“To _what_ , Katie? What, exactly, do you think having my little sister coddle me like a toddler is going to do for me? Should I be hoping out of bed and doing a jig with my one working leg? Or do you want me to just plaster on a smile and thank you for your oh-so-sweet behavior? Sorry I don’t have the energy to humor you right now. Sometimes even I need a break from being your little cheerleader,” He snapped, turning to glare at her. She flinched back at his tone and swallowed hard at what he was implying.

“I didn’t come here to make myself look good. I just wanted to try to make your day better, but I see that didn’t work. I’ll leave you alone, then,” She choked out as she pushed up from the seat. Lance blinked and reached out to set a hand on her, but she shrugged it off and quickly ducked out of the room.

“Now you’re putting that intelligence of yours to use,” He called after her, turning his attention back towards his television as he reached for the remote.

“What the _Hell_ is wrong with you?” Lance snapped, wheeling around to glare the other down. Matt seemed a bit startled by his sudden declaration, or perhaps he was caught off guard that the other was still here. “I know that you’re in a really shitty situation, but that’s _no_ excuse to treat Katie like that. She’s not the reason you’re here so you shouldn’t treat her like she is.”

“You have _no idea_ what I’m going through,” He growled lowly.

“Never said that I did. Apparently your Garrison smarts equate to _jack shit_ ,” Lance said with a sharp bark of laughter. The look of shock on Matt’s face was a bit rewarding. It meant that he had his attention. “What I am saying is to show some consideration when Pidge tries to reach out to you, because she’s been so worried about you and just wants to help you however you want her to. If you want or don’t want something, then tell her! All she wants is to help her big brother and it almost seems like you’re specifically setting her up to fail just so you can scream at her. You’re acting like a bratty toddler throwing a temper tantrum and it’s really embarrassing for you.”

“Then how am I supposed to act? What am I supposed to do, to make sure everyone else is fucking happy?” Matt snapped.

“Have you considered that your problem is that you won’t just fess up to your feelings? If you just tell Pidge what’s going on, that you need space or that you need someone to talk to, then maybe this wouldn’t be a problem? She’s not a damn mind reader!”

“You’re just making this about her feelings!”

“You’re intentionally ignoring half of what I said, which is just proving that you know you’re in the wrong. You know you don’t have a leg to stand on in this argument, so you’re trying to deflect,”

Matt seemed to deflate a bit at that, his eyes wide and a puff of laughter coming out of him. “Is… Is that supposed to be a _fucking joke_?”

Lance chose not to address the bad wording he’d gone with. “Choose to read it however you want. I’m not gonna keep wasting my energy on arguing with someone who just doesn’t care,” He said flatly, holding his hands up as he took a step back. He headed towards the doorway and then paused when he heard a small thump and a tired groan.

“Let me ask you seriously; what am I supposed to do? What should I be doing?” Matt asked, slumped back against his bed and looking at Lance expectantly. Lance paused, one hand on the doorframe, his brow knit. “If you’ve got this all so figured out, you tell me. Tell me how to proceed.”

“You don’t have to pretend that you’re okay,” Lance said with a tired sigh, “but you need to talk to your family. Don’t get sarcastic or shitty with them for trying. Open your mouth and actually talk. Communicate how you’re feeling so that your family can actually help you.” With that said, he stepped out into the hallway and looked around for Pidge. She was nowhere to be found, so he figured she’d probably headed back to the first floor or maybe even out to wait by the car. He fished his phone out, checking to see if there were any texts from her, and was a bit disappointed when there weren’t. He then selected Hunk and Allura’s contact, starting up a group message with them.

 **Me: (3:15 P.M.)**  
We got a Level 4 Crisis on our hands, peeps. This is not a drill.  
I repeat: This is NOT a drill!

 **Allura: (3:17 P.M.)**  
What happened?

 **Hunk: (3:18 P.M.)**  
Is this, like, an actual crisis?  
Or did you misplace your favorite facial cream and the store is out of stock again?

 **Me: (3:19 P.M.)**  
This is serious. Pidge is real upset and needs some serious cheering up.

 **Allura: (3:20 P.M.)**  
Was there bad news regarding Matt’s condition?

 **Me: (3:21 P.M.)**  
Matt was involved but it wasn’t his health. I’ll explain later.

 **Hunk: (3:23 P.M.)**  
I’ll get some supplies when I get off and make some peanut butter cookies while we’re over tonight. That might help.

 **Allura: (3:24 P.M.)**  
And I’ll grab a bag of that white cheddar popcorn she likes for us to enjoy during the movies. Anything else we should need?

 **Me: (3:25 P.M.)**  
Thnx guys. And me and Pidge’ll get the rest. :D

 **Hunk: (3:26 P.M.)  
** NP dude. :3

 **Allura: (3:28 P.M.)**  
It’s our pleasure. Let us know if anything else comes up.

 **Me: (3:29 P.M.)**  
Will do.

He headed back towards the elevator and perked up when he spotted Pidge, curled up in one of the chairs in the little sitting area adjacent the two elevators. She was curled up into herself, knees hugged to her chest and her head pressed into her knees, her whole body shaking with sobs. He walked over quietly and reached out, settling one arm around her shoulders and sitting on the arm of the chair. They sat in a quiet silence for a good amount of time, Lance gently stroking her upper arm to try and help sooth her. “Hey,” He said quietly, once the shaking of her shoulders subsided a bit.

She said something in response but it was too muffled to hear.

“I told him off for you, if that helps. Maybe then he’ll pull his head out of his ass when you come to see him in the future,” He grumbled lightly.

“Thanks, I guess. I just… I wish I knew how to help him,” She said, tilting her head up to look at him. He could see her eyes were a little red, meaning she’d had herself a little cry over the whole thing. “I know this isn’t easy for him, and that he’s hurting a lot in more than one way, but… I just wish he would tell me what he needs me to do. I just want him to tell me how to help him through this.”

“He might not know himself. All you can do is be patient and try to do things how you think he wants, really,” Lance said softly.

“I’m just gonna stay away from him until he tells me to come see him,” She said, pushing her glasses up so that she could wipe at her eyes with the heels of her hands. She sniffled a bit as she tugged them back down once she was done wiping her face. “He says that he wants his privacy and space, then I’ll give it to him.”

He gave her shoulder a small squeeze as he pushed off the chairs arm. “For now, let’s go get supplies for tonight. We’re gonna have a blast tonight, right?” He asked.

She offered a small smile and nodded. “Thanks, Lance,” She said, pushing herself upright and climbing out of the large chair.

He gave a playful, exaggerated bow as he offered her his arm. “But of course, m’lady,” He teased.

She giggled as she breezed past him. “You need a fedora to pull that off,” She teased, hitting the down button on the elevator.

He laughed as he jogged to join her in the elevator. “Guess it is true that nice guys finish last,” He hummed back.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things in the Holt house continue to be possessed by the odd gravity of Matthew's situation and Pidge begins her work on Keith's bike. She also gets to know the man in question a little better.

The week went by in a dull blur of orientations and introductory classes, and the shop was busy as ever with the weekend bustle, leaving her little time to herself until Tuesday night. She didn’t normally work on Tuesday nights, given she had classes in the afternoon, but they’d had a call out and she was only picking up a four-hour shift. Sometimes Pidge hated working at the little pizzeria Lance’s family operated, due to how it was so popular, but she also couldn’t complain too much with how much she managed to turn over in tips from the tables. Serving detail wasn’t always pleasant, but sometimes the customers were understanding and tipped her a generous amount. Plus, admittedly, it was a lot better than getting stuck of driver detail like Lance or Hunk tended to, given how insane people tended to get during rush hour.

Initially, her mom and dad had called to ask her when she was off, wanting her to tag along to pay Matt a visit. She hadn’t spoken to him at all since the blow up a few days prior, still feeling a bit uneasy about it all. She excused herself with the lie of having to run some errands after her shift. Lying made her feel a little guilty, but the idea of having to see her brother against so soon was much more unpleasant. She’d taken her own car that day since she was off a full two hours before Lance or Hunk, so she drove down to a nearby Walmart and milled about for a bit. She stocked up on some snacks to keep stashed in her personal lab, wanting to be prepared for the long hours she was sure she’d be spending there. After putting them in her backpack and laptop case, she headed into the kitchen to grab herself a small snack before settling in for the night.

Just as she started to peel an orange, the front door opened. “Katie?” Her mother called as she headed inside.

“In the kitchen,” She called back, tossing a sliver of peel into the trash can beside her.

Colleen poked her head around the corner and smiled at her. “Hey, how long have you been home?”

“Less than five minutes, I’d say,”

“Hmm. What errands did you have to run?”

“Just wanted to get some school stuff for my campus lab. Nothing too interesting, really,”

“Hey there, Pidgeon,” Samuel said as he headed in, walking past his daughter and pressing a quick peck to her forehead.

“Hey, Dad,” She said before plopping a piece of orange into her mouth. She shifted and gestured towards the entryway with one hand, moving to slink back to her room for some unwinding before bed. She moved to walk away but instead was halted by a hand on her arm.

“Don’t you want to know how your brother’s doing?” Colleen asked, brow knit in a mix of concern and confusion.

She blinked then averted her gaze down to her orange, lightly flicking a small piece of peel back and forth with her thumb. She hadn’t told her parents about the blow up between she and Matt almost a week ago, simply because she hadn’t wanted to worry them. Besides, it seemed like he was fine talking with them, so there was no point. For them, he was the usual Matthew Holt they’d always known. Perhaps a bit quieter and more restrained, but that could be chalked up to a mix of being stuck in the hospital and still recovering from the amputation. She didn’t want her parents trying to intervene and only causing their own visits with Matt to turn sour too.

So, instead, she dug her nail into the center of the fruit, split it into pieces and placed it on a small paper plate. “If anything was wrong, you guys would have told me,”

“Well, obviously. But don’t you want to know about when he’ll be coming home?”

“It’ll be soon,” Samuel chimed in as he poked his head out of the fridge, a water bottle in hand, “so we’re gonna need to get his room resituated. We’ll be driving up to the Garrison on Thursday to get his things out of his dorm and finalize some last minute details about everything. Your mom’s gonna drive his car back down for us. We should be able to bring all of his things down between the two cars, but we’ll need your help bringing it in and getting it set up how he likes. Do you have work this weekend?”

“Like always,” She said, picking up a piece of orange and tossing it in her mouth.

Colleen scowled. “I don’t care for that tone, young lady,”

“Look, I’ve always worked on the weekends so I’ll help when I can,” She grumbled back, picking up the plate and moving towards the exit. “I need to get started on some school stuff. We can talk about this tomorrow when I get home from school.” With that, she marched out and made a beeline for the stairs.

Colleen tried to call after her, but she simply hurried up the stairs a bit quicker. She didn’t want to play twenty questions with them about the situation or get a lecture about helping out.

Once she got upstairs, she shut the door and flopped over on her bed, setting her orange on her nightstand. She shuffled around on her bed, propping herself up on her pillows and checking her phone. There were a few texts of nothing but emojis from Lance, highlighting his delivery assignment delight. She chuckled a bit to herself before shifting around to find her charger cable and hooking her phone up. She let out a startled squeak when, as she popped the charger in, her phone flashed alive and began eagerly singing the theme from _Killbot Phantasm_. The caller was unknown, which was confusing, but caught her interest.

She slid the answer call button and held it up to her ear. “Hello?” She asked curiously.

“Hey,” The gruff male voice on the other end said. She blinked a bit and cocked her head, the voice familiar and scratching at the back of her mind. “I was going to call sooner to coordinate everything for tomorrow, but things were a little hectic this weekend.” And then, after a small beat of silence, he added, “You know, about the motorcycle rebuild?”

“Oh! Keith!” She hummed as she held the phone up with her shoulder, reaching to grab the orange again.

“Oh, cool. You remembered my name. I… I don’t think we ever actually introduced ourselves to each other proper,” He pointed out.

“One of your co-workers called you Keith so I just kinda assumed that was your name,” She said with a small laugh. “You can just call me Pidge; it’s what everyone else calls me.”

“Sounds good, Pidge. You’re not busy right now or anything, right?” He asked.

“Nah, I’m just relaxing at home,” She said, carefully picking up another bite of orange.

“So, I went ahead and got the bike loaded into the bed of my truck. I wanted to ask if you have, like, something to cart it around on, because it’s kind of heavy,”

“You can’t just wheel it in?”

“It’s kinda missing a wheel, so the answer would be no,”

“Wow, you weren’t kidding about it being a bit on the damaged side,” She whistled lowly. She took a quick bite from another piece of orange and let out a contemplative hum. “I’ll ask one of the professors about it; tell them I’m taking the bike apart to use it for some bigger project for one of my classes, in case they want to know exactly why I’m bringing that in.”

“Ah, clever. I hadn’t considered that the school might have an issue,” He said, seemingly slightly surprised.

She nodded to herself and plopped the last bit of an orange piece on her mouth. “I mean, I doubt the school would have a problem with it, since we’re supposed to be using our labs for projects and such, but I like to be prepared, since I’m not sure bringing in a one-wheeled motorcycle out of the bed of a truck will raise any suspicions.” She said. “I’d ask you to send a picture of it so I have an idea of what I’m dealing with but you had to call from a landline.”

“I should have a new phone next week, so I’ll have to get you the number then. It’ll make coordinating easier,” He mused.

“I believe you promised to tell me why, exactly, you’re currently sans a phone,” She pointed out.

“You have a sharp memory, huh? I’ll tell you tomorrow, while you’re working on the bike,” He chuckled, letting the amusement show. “So, I know you already said you wanted me to surprise you, but since we’re closer to the day, I wanted to double check. Anything in specific sound good?”

“Hmm. I’ll think about it and, once we get the bike in my lab, I’ll let you know before we get started,” She hummed. “You said you’re done with classes around 1, right?”

“Yeah. Is there a place you want to meet up when I get out?”

“Is the campus café cool with you? I figure it’s a simple enough location that everyone knows the location of,”

“Sounds good to me. Did we wanna say 1:30, just so I have a little bit of time to get there after class?”

“That’s perfect. I’ll make sure to check with a professor about getting some kind of cart or something to cart the motorcycle along. That, or maybe I can ask my friends to help,” She hummed. She then let out a small noise. “Oh! And, if you can, park in the lot behind the Wilcox building. That lot is closest to building with the personal labs, so we can get it in and out relatively quick.”

“I’ll see you then,” He said before hanging up. She chuckled as she hung up herself and tossed another slice of orange in her mouth.

She couldn’t help but be a bit curious about what the bike would look like. He mentioned it was pretty beaten up, so she figured that meant it had to be an older model, something deemed a classic perhaps. That would certainly be interesting to get her hands on and see if she could get it to purr like new again. It’d certainly be a good way to test her skills, though she couldn’t help but wonder if parts would be expensive or difficult to find, making the rebuild itself a challenge.

Then again, she’d always liked a challenge.

But then, she wondered, how plausible was it that the bike was a classic? Given he was a college student working at a hardware store, she couldn’t help but think it being a classic was a bit out of the realm of possibility. She assumed that a classic bike – even in a poor state of repair – wouldn’t be particularly cost efficient. Well, unless it was something his parents had bought or passed down to him. That seemed like it could be feasible. That, of perhaps he picked it up from someone who hadn’t been aware of the gem they were actually selling off.

She jumped from her musings when her phone suddenly pinged and flashed at her, beginning to blow up with message after message.

 **Dweeb King Supreme: (9:47 P.M.)**  
Missed you when Mom and Dad came to visit.

 **Dweeb King Supreme: (9:48 P.M.)**  
They said you had to run errands. Hope that went well.

 **Dweeb King Supreme: (9:49 P.M.)  
** Thank you for the taffy. It helped a little.

 **Dweeb King Supreme: (9:57 P.M.)**  
And I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. My situation isn’t your fault, and I know you just want to help. Want to help me feel normal.

 **Dweeb King Supreme: (9:59 P.M.)**  
But I don’t know what my normal is anymore. And I don’t know when I’ll be anywhere near that again.

 **Dweeb King Supreme: (10:01 P.M.)**  
But that isn’t your fault. And I shouldn’t have tried to make it seem like it was.

 **Dweeb King Supreme: (10:06 P.M.)**  
If you have time, can you bring my PS4 by? We can play something together next time you visit.

 **Dweeb King Supreme: (10:07 P.M.)  
** If you want.

She stared at the messages for a moment before sighing and tossing the last piece of orange into her mouth. How was she supposed to respond? A small part of her wondered, suddenly, if Matt himself had told them about the small blow up they’d had. It would certainly explain why her parents had been nudging at her about the errands, asking her what she’d needed to take care of. She scowled and exited the chat, opting against responding, feeling irritation churn in her belly. He knew how much she hated drama and having to deal with it. If she was right that he’d mentioned things to her parents, he must have known there’d be some kind of backlash at home for it. He just wouldn’t be there to have to deal with it.

She double-checked the time before selecting Lance’s contact and clicking the call button. The pizzeria would be closed up and he’d either be almost home or just making it there. The minute he answered, before he could even chime in with a greeting, she blurted out, “On a scale of one to ten, how bad would beating the ever-loving shit out of Matt be?”

Lance paused in dropping his car keys into the little bowl beside the front door and blinked. He let out a thoughtful hum and let his keys drop. “Exactly what standpoint are we applying this measurement scale to? Because, on that scale in regards to legality, then it would be a… Let’s see… Oh, yeah, _illegal_ ,” He said with a small huff of teasing laughter.

Pidge let out a low groan and flopped back on her bed, the springs creaking slightly under her, and stared up at the bald splotches in the ceiling above her head. Once upon a time, she’d had glow-in-the-dark stars all along her walls and ceiling, but over the years they’d dropped off, leaving behind nothing but the small patches here and there. “Lance,” She whined.

“Okay, okay,” He tsked lightly, stretching as he moved front the small entryway of the house to the hallways behind the staircase. He kicked his shoes off as he went, leaving them where they dropped and reminding himself to pick them up in the morning. “So we’re going for the moral argument. Well, he is your brother, and he did just have a limb amputated, so I’m pretty sure that it’s a no-go there, too.”

“Ugh, why can’t you just tell me what I _want_ to hear like most best friends do?”

He laughed as flicked the light on in his room and moved to nudge the door shut with his foot. He paused, however, when he spotted piercing blue eyes watching him from the shadowy hallway behind him. “Come here, Capps,” He crooned lightly, leaning down to make a little clicky sound and rubbing his fingers together.

The blue eyes started surging forward, a loud wail of a mewling echoing. It only took a moment before the tiny kitten had waddled their way over, eagerly sniffing at his fingers with a little brown nose. “Aw, did Cappuccino decide to grace you with her presence?” Pidge teased into the phone.

He scooped the little kitten up with one hand and lifted her up to his face, pressing a quick peck to her forehead before holding her against his shoulder carefully. “I’ll have you know that she enjoys coming out for me more often than you’d think,” He hummed before retreating into his room again and shutting the door. He headed over to his own bed and sat down, carefully setting Cappuccino down so he could remove his socks. “She’s been doing a lot better now that she’s a little more settled in, though she still doesn’t really like it when Marco and the kids are over. I think that’s more to do with the kids being really loud, though. I also think it helps that Espresso’s stopped bullying her and seems to finally be resigned to his fate.”

“Oh yeah?” She snorted.

“Yeah. He’s not happy about being a grandpa, but he’s finally accepted it. But, nah, I’m her favorite of the humans. She’s slept in here with me the last couple of nights,” He hummed lightly. He could tell that the talk of Kitty Parenthood was softening Pidge up just slightly, which he certainly wouldn’t complain about. Buttering her up might make talking her down go a little more smoothly. “So what did Matt do to chaff your ass?”

She let out a small huff. “Sent me a bunch of passive aggressive text messages. Plus, I’m pretty sure he told my parents about the fight we had, so that’s great,” She grumbled.

“Wait, you still haven’t told your parents about the argument?” He asked in surprise before looking around. Veronica had taken his laundry to the laundry room for him, judging by how there were no clothes on his floor any more. “Is it cool if I put you on speaker phone while I get changed?”

“Go for it,”

“Sweet. So, tell me all the details. What did he say, exactly? And what makes you think he told your parents?” He asked before clicking the button and upping the volume on his phone speaker before heading over to his dresser.

“He was all ‘Hey wish you stopped by earlier with Mom and Dad’ and ‘Bring me my PS4 next time you come by. We can play a game together. Whatever _you want’_. And it just… _Ugh_! Like, I don’t know? It felt like he was trying to imply he knew I didn’t come because I just didn’t want to and was pissed about it, but then was also still kinda mad about the fact that it was about how I feel? But I’m not avoiding him because _I_ want to; I’m avoiding him because I don’t know what _he_ wants!”

“Hmm, it’s certainly a hard spot to be in,” Lance hummed, swiping some mesh shorts and a tank top from his pajama drawer and turning to look at his bed again. He snorted a bit at how Capps was standing upright, back arched and tail fluffed, as she stared at the phone in wide-eyed horror. He walked back over and gently scratched between her shoulder blades, watching how at first she flinched but then relaxed the slightest bit when she realized it was just him. “What makes you think your parents know what’s going on?”

Pidge huffed quietly, turning over on to her side so she was facing the wall. She reached out and picked at a small sliver of brick that stood a bit more pronounced than the rest. “They were getting on me about helping them get his room ready for when he gets home. Mom, in specific, was really short with me about it, so I just know he most have said something to put them on edge,”

“Do you think this might be his way of reaching out to try and make things right?”

“What do you mean?”

“Hold on,” He called, quickly ditching his work clothes for the comfier clothes he’d picked. Once he was done, he carefully scooped up Capps and his phone while flopping over on his bed. He switched the phone off speaker phone and tilted his head a bit, grinning when Capps eagerly waddled over his shoulder to curl up against his neck on his pillow. He’d learned in the last few nights that she loved being snuggled and swaddled when she slept, usually making her way under the covers to nuzzle right into the crook of his arm or bend of knees. “Okay, so, Matt’s clearly having trouble communicating with you, right?”

“Uh huh,” She drawled out, sounding like an odd mix of questioning and ambivalent.

“But you mentioned that he seems to be getting along with your Mom and Dad pretty well. Matt’s not a complete idiot, so maybe he noticed, too, and thought that if he talked to _them_ , they could talk with _you_ for _him,_ ” He explained, reaching up with his other hand to gently scratch between his kitten’s eyes. She pressed closer to the ministrations and began purring. He heard Pidge let out a small hum, the note to is a bit more skeptical than he liked. “I mean, it makes sense. If he’s worried that he can’t approach you the right way, why not ask for help from someone else? And, I mean, he may have been genuine in his messages, too. Pretending it didn’t happen might be what he thinks is the better approach if he’s aiming for a mediation.”

“I guess. I just wish he could have said that himself, then,” She sighed.

“Well, again, it’s clear he’s struggling. I’m not saying you have to forgive him if he isn’t trying to apologize, but you should try to consider things on his end a bit. Try to be patient, but also don’t be afraid to call out blatant bullshit when you see it,” He suggested. The more Lance thought about it, the more he realized how the whole situation between them had devolved. Pidge and Matt had always been incredibly close from what Lance could tell, having a bond similar to he and his own siblings where communication and problem resolution came naturally. But this whole thing was difficult for the both of them; Matt in that his whole world was drastically changing and he wasn’t sure which way was up or down for him, and for Pidge it was a precarious tightrope walk to help her brother find the answer to that question.

Neither of them was wrong in how they felt or their personal frustrations, but they also didn’t understand one another’s position and clashed because of it.

“I guess we’ll see once he gets home. I’ll have to get that taken care of after work this weekend, too,” She grumbled.

“Want some help with that? We should be off around the same time, assuming Casey doesn’t call out again,”

“I’d appreciate it. Oh, which reminds me! Hunk mentioned that you had juicy gossip to share involving Casey?”

Lance let out a low whistle. “Oh, boy, Pidge! That boi? That boi right there? We’re gonna have some issues, let me just say!” He said, voice gaining its usual exuberance. It helped to relax Pidge again, shifting back over to more lighthearted topics. In the back of her mind, though, a part of her did take what Lance said to heart. He had a point about the situation, but she wasn’t keen on reaching out to her brother right away. She also wanted to think things over further in her own mind and determine if she actually wanted to call her brother out on whether he confronted their parents or not.

She would give it some time, she decided, and respond in the morning.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Professor Ryner was a phenomenal help, as far as Pidge saw it.

She stopped by the professor’s office that morning, before the woman had her first class for the day, and inquired about if they had a cart she could use to move a larger object. She confirmed that they had a large metal cart that they used to relocate heavier pieces of mechanics between labs. It was taken to Pidge’s lab and then she was able to head to the café to wait for Keith, treating herself to a coffee in the interim, and settling at the long row of tall seats and bar-like table across the back wall, against the large windows showing the other students milling about from building to building.

She perked up and grinned when she saw his figure heading from the Roosevelt building, just across the courtyard from the café. She waited until he entered from the door at the far end and waved him over, taking a small of her coffee. Once he was in earshot, she hopped down from the seat she’d been in. "Hey! So, guess who has a metal push cart waiting for us in her lab?"

He readjusted the strap on his backpack and chuckled a bit. "I'm gonna take it that it's you?"

“Yes sire, Bob! Professor Ryner also said that she’ll have the lab area security guard meet us and unlock the back door so that we don’t have to push the cart all across campus to get it into my lab,” She hummed.

“Wow, you really made sure this was going to go as smooth as possible, huh?” He whistled lightly.

She preened as she tugged the strap of her laptop case over her shoulder and nodded her head towards the door, implying they get going. "Don't know what you're going for, but if you ever have to take a class with Professor Ryner, remember she is awesome,"

"I probably will. She's the head of the science department, yeah?" He asked as they began making their way out and to her lab.

“Mmhmm,”

“I’m majoring in biological science, so I’ll have a lot of classes under her before I can transfer or graduate,”

“Oh, one of my friends is doing biological science, too. Where are you looking to transfer to?”

“Galaxy Garrison. They have their own space exploration program for the students in the top percentage, and ultimately that’s what I’d like to do,”

She perked up and offered him a small smile. “You want to be an astronaut?”

He flushed a bit and nodded, looking off to the side as they reached the building housing the personal labs. “Well, I’ve always thought that space was fascinating. There’s so much we still don’t know, so many things we haven’t figured out about what lies beyond the stars we can barely see,” He said, jogging a bit ahead of her to open the door.

“Oh, thanks,” She said, stepping in and waiting for him to followed her. Once he caught up, she resumed leading him down the halls. “And I didn’t mean it in a bad way. My Dad actually works for the Garrison, my friend wants to be a pilot for the Garrison too, and my brother… Well, he was attending, and he should be going back soon. Hopefully.” She averted her eyes to the small bulletin board at the entrance, where they could leave postings for the professors and other lab students when concern arose. She had thought more about the situation with her parents and getting Matt’s things from his Garrison dorm. It seemed odd that they’d need to bring all of his things back so soon if they only anticipated for him to be out for a semester from the Garrison. They wanted her to help organize his room in such a way that would make him comfortable, help him adjust.

She had realized that this meant he was most likely staying for much longer than just a semester. And, realistically, that he wouldn’t be going back any time soon.

Keith hummed quietly, thoughtful, seeming to notice the change in her behavior. “What about you? I know you mentioned you’re an engineering major. Any specific goal of where you hope to go?”

She blinked then smiled and nodded. “Honestly, I want to be skilled with any aspect of engineering. I like having a wide array of things, but I’d really love to help design space ships, satellites and other such technology. Like you said before, there’s so much about space that we don’t know. I’d love to be able to help design ships that would allow for astronauts to travel into other galazies and see what could be found there. I mean, for all we know there could be intelligent life out there that we know nothing about, or perhaps there are things that could help improve life on Earth, or any other number of things,” She rambled excitedly.

He blinked a bit and perked up. “Wait… Did you say intelligent life?” He asked.

She swallowed and nodded meekly. “Ah, sorry, I know it sounds strange but… Well, it just doesn’t make sense that we’re alone. I mean, maybe in our galaxy we’re alone, but surely if life exists in our galaxy, it has to exist in another, right?”

“No, I totally get it,” He said, causing her to stare at him with wide eyes. “If there can be life on our planet, then there could always be intelligent life on other planets, or in other galaxies. And, honestly, how amazing would it be to find them? To learn about their cultures and worlds and how their society were to operate? We could learn from each other, help to improve life on one another’s respective planet… Or, you know, we could be seen as hostile aliens and get blown to bits. Whichever.”

She laughed as she stopped in front of her lab, fished the key from her pocket, and unlocked it. “Oh, man! That’d make for a _crazy_ intense novel!”

“What, the exchange of culture between Earth and another race in a different galaxy? Or the hostile takeover?” He snorted.

“Well, the first one would be the goal when encountering other intelligent beings on another planet,” She mused, leading him over to the large, red steel cart in the middle of her lab, “but a novel about Earth going to an alien planet and being seen as volatile tyrants, bent on hostile takeover? Man, that would be _amazing_! I would buy it, read it, and then go see the movie adaptation to scream about how it isn’t nearly as good as the book!” She paused to toss her bag on top of her lab table, then reached over to take his bag from him. For a moment he looked a bit confused, then seemed to understand. He carefully set his own bag down beside hers as she moved back to head for the door again. “Though, I can already imagine how hilarious the rift fest for that would be.”

He laughed as he walked over and took hold of the large handle of the cart. “Bold of you to assume the movie adaptation would automatically be awful,”

“Unless it was directed by Peter Jackson, then it would be awful,” She said as she leaned back against the door to prop it open for him.

“Who is that?” He asked as they headed out.

“The director for _The Lord of the Rings_ , duh!”

“Oh, I like those books. Never seen the movies, though,” He shrugged.

She gawked at him for a moment then shook her head, clicking her tongue as she did. “I’m gonna make you watch them during one of this restoration sessions, just so you know,”

“But won’t it be hard to listen over the sound of your work?”

“Headphones are a thing,” She sang merrily. She led him down another hallway to the left of the one her lab was located at. At the far end, they could see a member of the campus security standing by, perking up as they approached.

“You’re Katie Holt, right?” He asked, reaching for the key ring on his belt. She beamed and nodded as he fished out the proper key and shifting to unlock the door. It let out a small chirp once he turned the key, causing a small light over the door to turn off. He gave it one good shove and it creaked open, exposing them to the harsh natural light of the parking lot.

"Don't worry; we'll be quick. Besides, it's better than just hovering around and playing the Disney emoji game on your phone, right?" She hummed, giving the guard’s shoulder a good natured at as she moved past him to the platform leading to the exit ramp.

“I’d appreciate it,” He said, having to clear his throat a bit, "because I'm missing out on a special event, I'll have you know.”

Keith blinked then cocked his head as he followed just a pace or two after Pidge. "Huh. I don't remember there being any events on campus today,"

"I think he meant in his game," She said over her shoulder.

The guard offered a meek smile, rubbing at the back of his neck shyly. "They have a special Kingdom Hearts emoji coming out of Sora. My kid loves those games and I let her play the game on my phone sometimes. Might be a fun little surprise for her next time she gets to play,”

"Aw, that's sweet. We'll be quick so you can get back to your important business, good sir,” She hummed, offering him a playful salute. He chuckled and ushered them along with a wave of his hand. Keith followed Pidge down the ramp, going slow due to the cart leaning into the momentum of the ramp. Once they were down in the actual parking lot, Pidge stepped aside for him to lead her along.

“I did my best to park my truck as close as I could, to make getting it inside a little easier, but the best I could do was the third row, straight down the middle. We might need to both push the cart along once we get the bike on it, but I think we can make it,” He said evenly.

She grinned at him. “Hey, that’s not too terrible, all things considered,” She hummed before giggling a bit. “Dang, I’m getting kind of pumped up for this. What kind of bike is it? Like, year, make, model?” She asked excitedly.

“It’s a surprise,” He laughed before starting to push the cart along.

The cart ground hard against the blacktop of the lot, the whole cart jostling about and rattling loudly. Occasionally Keith had to fight with it, when little pebbles got caught in the wheels at just the wrong angle, but it didn’t hold them up too much. At a particularly rough spot, where the cart was completely trapped, they had to power through together to get it moving again. Shortly after, though, Keith skid to a stop in front of an old, beat up black pickup truck. Pidge aligned the cart while Keith hopped into the bed and lowered the back door, giving Pidge her first glance at the bike.

It was old, to say the least, by how much of it was dinged, dented, scratched and rusted away. Pieces of it, though, seemed to stick out as being something completely different. The shape of the bike seemed basic enough, being what was normally expected of a motorcycle, but some of the design choices were interesting. As opposed to two or three headlights along the front, there was just one long, V-shaped one in the center of the front, though it did have a decent crack in the left corner of it. Additionally, she noticed that one of the left side mirror was missing as well. As he said, the front wheel was completely gone, instead exposing some rather weathered front forks, and a few smaller components were dangling just below the interior.

That didn’t bode well, but she was going to remain optimistic.

She watched as he carefully pushed the bike closer to the edge of the truck before hopping out again. She moved over to help him get it on to the cart, letting out a small puff as she helped to heft the weight. “Told you it was a bit on the heavy side,” He said in a wheezy laugh of exertion. Pidge wobbled a little bit as they got it settled, but then took a step back to get a better look at it. The seat was faded, with spots that were completely work down, but ultimately the leather still seemed to be mostly intact. The exhaust on the side closest to her was bent outwards slightly. The drive chain also looked pretty worn, on the verge of snapping, so that would be another replacement to make.

Outside of just the basics, though, she couldn’t place the manufacture.

"I've never seen a bike like this before," She mused, leaning over to wipe at the windshield with her thumb. It came back covered in grime. She made a face and scrubbed it against the hip of her jeans to clean it off again.

Keith was grinning as he shifted to reach into his bag, offering her a slightly tattered old journal. "That’s because my Dad built this himself,” He mused, waving the journal a bit until she took it from him. She carefully pulled back the front cover and began to look through, making sure to treat it with the utmost care. "He kept that journal as he built it, so I know what parts he used. It’s one of the reasons I didn’t really want to take it to a mechanic or professional bike shop; I knew they’d either have no idea what to do, or just try to convince me to get something brand new. I'm not sure if the parts will be easy to come by, but I know some places we can check when we get to that."

“Just looking over the cosmetics,” She said, offering the notebook back to him, “there’s a bit of work there. But, the bigger question, is what needs to be done on the inside to get it running. Does it start up at all?”

“Nah. I’ve tried it a couple times but it’s pretty dead,” He said, tucking the journal away and zipping his bag back up. He then tossed his bag back over both of his shoulders and moved to start pushing the cart along again. She darted over to help, saddling up beside him with both hands on one side of the cart handle.

Lugging it across the parking lot and back up the ramp was more difficult than they expected, but they managed somehow. The security guard actually leaned over and helped them best he could, once they got close enough to him, and helped to heft it over the door sill when the wheels got caught. Once they were in the sleek, tiled floors of the building, the ride was a lot smoother. They both still needed to push, but they didn’t get held up nearly as much without little bits of gravel and a slope to press past. Pidge darted a head a bit to prop open the door, then went back to help him push it in.

Once it was inside and on her work bench, she turned to look over at him. “I can start looking this over if you wanted to go get food. I don’t know about you, but that was more of a workout than I was anticipating.”

Keith set his bag back down beside hers and rummaged through to pull out his wallet. “Have you decided what sounds good?”

“There’s a Panda Express not too far off from here. Is that cool with you?”

“Yeah. What did you want me to get you?”

“Honey walnut shrimp with chow mein and super greens, please. Oh, and if they have peach tea on the fountain, one of those,” She hummed, walking to the other end of her lab and pulling out her tool kit, safety goggles, and a pair of gloves.

“Can do. Any appetizers of fortune cookies or anything?”

“I mean, I’ll never say no to an order of cream cheese rangoons, but it’s your call how much you want to spend. This is the first rebuild session, after all,” She said while tugging the goggles on. She then paused and indicated his bag with her head. “Before you go, though, would you mind setting the journal out for me? I may need to reference it while I’m looking things over.”

“You could just go through it to get it if you needed it,” He pointed out with a raised eyebrow. He still, however, moved to do as she asked.

“That’d be invasive to your space and privacy. I don’t do that,”

“You take that kind of stuff seriously, huh?”

“So long as someone haven’t done anything to cross me, then I try to be,”

“Well that doesn’t sound vaguely ominous. Care to explain?”

“I will; after we have lunch and you tell me about how you broke your phone,” She hummed, pinning him with an amused grin as she tugged on one of her gloves.

He chuckled and shook his head. “Got it. I’ll be back shortly,” He said, offering her a small salute and disappearing.

Once he left, she turned her computer on and started it up with some music, before diving right in to the full diagnostics of everything. She carefully referenced the journal with everything she did and found herself a bit awed. The notes were detailed, organized, and concise, paired with sketches or small Polaroid pictures to help illustrate his process. With the amount of care placed in it, she couldn’t help but wonder what the story behind the bike was. From what she could glean, his father was someone who took great pride in what he had accomplished, as well as caring deeply for what he was constructing.

By the time Keith returned, she had written up an entire list of what she thought was necessary to get the bike running again.

He pushed the door open, a plastic bag with the Panda Express logo on it looped through one arm, and two paper cups in either hand. “Hey, how are things?” He asked as he stepped in.

She perked up and offered him a smile, leaning over to pause to the music. “Hey. It’s going pretty good; got an entire list set up here for you of what we need to start considering to get this baby purring again. Your dad left a lot of really helpful notes in here that helped me to figure things out,” She indicated the journal as she moved to take off the gloves. Once they were off, she set them aside and tilted up the goggles, moving to go find the spare chair in the room.

While she did that, Keith set the food down on her cleared desk and started setting everything out. “Sounds about right. Dad was always a detail-oriented kind of guy when it came what he did,” He chuckled, almost sounding as if the thought pained him. When she looked over at him, though, his expression betrayed nothing.

“Was he a mechanic or a collector or something?” She asked, grabbing the spare chair and rolling it over. She pushed it towards him once he looked at her.

“Nah, he was a firefighter,” He hummed, grabbing the back of the chair and turning it to settle in. She could tell, however, that he clearly didn’t want to keep up with this conversation.

“What did you get for yourself?” She asked, taking the Styrofoam container and set of chopsticks he offered to her. She pulled her chopsticks out and broke them as she waited for his response.

“Eggplant tofu. I’ll be honest, I can’t remember the last time I had this, so I just kind of went with what didn’t sound familiar,” He shrugged, popping open his own container.

She hummed lightly, opening her own container and letting out a small contented sigh at the aroma that greeted her. She hadn’t realized exactly how hungry she was until she was about to dig in, evidently. She tossed one of the heavily coated shrimp into her mouth and closed her eyes, smiling and delighting. Lance wasn’t a big fan of Chinese food so it was typically pretty rare for when she got to indulge. She took a sip of her tea before she pointed her chopsticks at him. “Okay, we had a deal, so I believe you owe me an explanation behind the broken phone,”

He chuckled and shook his head, pausing to swallow his own bite before speaking. “Okay, let me just preface this by stating that it wasn’t entirely my fault,” He said before beginning to weave a fantastical tale involving abandoned factories, dicking around with a Ouija board, and the potential summoning of a demon.


End file.
